Exploring Trade Union Identities Hardcover

Bob Smale

The world of work has changed and so have trade unions with mergers, rebrandings and new unions being formed. The question is, how positioned are the unions to organize the unorganized? With more than three quarters of uk workers unrepresented and the growth of precarious employment and the gig economy this topical new book by bob smale reports up-to-date research on union identities and what he terms 'niche unionism', while raising critical questions for the future.

9781529204070

English

Bristol University Press

8 February 2020

184

Bob Smale retired from University of Brighton in 2018 after half a century of trade union membership and activism and more than thirty years of working in education. He is now concentrating on research and writing. His research interests include employee relations and pedagogy.

Based on extensive and meticulous research, Bob Smale provides a rich and important contribution to understanding why people join different types of unions. Exploring the relationship between general and niche unions, he identifies what we can learn for future forms of worker organization. A very valuable read. Jacqueline O'Reilly, University of Sussex "Bob Smale offers an insightful, new way of thinking about trade union identity. Anyone who is interested in trade unions should read this book." Steve Williams, University of Portsmouth "In this authoritative and innovative study, Smale draws on theory from outside the industrial relations field to explore and redefine 'union identities' and 'niche unionism'." David Lain, Newcastle University "This is an interesting and important examination of how different unions have positioned themselves to recruit workers in areas of the economy that are currently largely unorganized." Ed Blissett, University of Hertfordshire